101 Small Business Web Applications You Must Check Out

Check out these 101 small business web applications — software in the cloud. The selections reflect the breadth of innovative ideas and new business pursuits at play in the small business technology cloud landscape.

From sales to legal to productivity tools, we can attest that the small business technology is alive, kicking and doing extremely well in 2011.

It’s getting much easier and cheaper to operate a business than ever before. Absolutely great news for small business!

Yes just when I was going to delete another best of list I found some new useful sites. I am still finding google has a lot of these tools if you really read the features of some of their products in Labs.

I agree totally: it is really not necessary to duplicate Google Contacts or Calendar (to name a few)! However some apps have deliberately chosen not to duplicate existing Google tools but to complement them. I can recommend SaaSt which is an ERP with lots of modules (invoicing, inventory, project Management, CRM, e-commerce…).

Wow, great list, Edith. I learned a few new ones and enjoyed clicking through. I like the online education category, too, could be some practical uses for small companies to use those for training or even for marketing. Thanks.

This is quite the list Edith and thanks for including Grasshopper on here! There are definitely some apps on here that I’ll be looking into. I’d also add the list Chargify and Spreadable, our sister companies. Chargify is a recurring billing app for Web 2.0 and SaaS companies. Cost: $39/month. Spreadable is a word of mouth marketing tool to increase word of mouth referrals. Cost: $24/month. Thanks again for the list!

You can use it to manage and prioritize your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
Syncs with Evernote, and also comes with mobile-web, Android and iPhone apps.

Very nice list indeed and some tools here I have never heard of but I am surprised that you have listed GetResponse but not listed Aweber. As someone who has used both services in my honest opinion Aweber is a lot better and offers great integration into many ecommerce packages.

Thanks for the list. Please consider PipeDrive.com as Sales Management Software. Pipedrive is a sales pipeline management tool made by people passionate about sales. It centres the sales process around deals and helps team members focus on the right thing. Sales people see which deals to concentrate on to reach their objectives, and managers have a clear view of the team’s overall sales pipeline. It shows you the money, if you will.

Also like (not on the list?): Zoho.com for Accounting, Billing, File Sharing, CRM, Email, Doc Storage, Project Planning, Tasks, Notes, Online Meetings, Recruiting, Office Suite, and much more – all in one! Cost: Free (up to three users on most apps) to up to $200 per additional user/month ala cart. Nice feature for independent and micro businesses is Zoho’s business/mail dashboard, with all of your favorite apps easily accessible from one browser window. And, it’s smart phone friendly! (calendar, mail and dashboard)

Great list, but I was surprised webreep.com wasn’t on there somewhere. Its the only tool I know of that lets you compare the quality of your website to other websites in the same business as you. Great little tool, and I think they still have a free version too;)

Hi, primarily I’m a dime-a-dozen, cheap, two-bit stand up comic with a bunch of web sites, but I also write extensively on a number of topics. Recently, when I saw an ad for Square on my HookedOnDroid.com web site (I write about Smartphones there), I researched it and signed up.

I really believe this is the best news for small business and individuals in a long time. Enabling anyone to accept credit cards by using a credit card reader plugged into your phone, and your touch screen for their signature verification is astonishing. If it works.

I set up an account, verified my bank account and received the free magnetic card reader. Here is my review and a video of me actually performing a transaction to see whether it works as well as is claimed. hookedondroid.com/squarecreditcardappreview.html

This is the best list of ANY small business/technology applications I have ever seen. And for the project management, I also recommend TABB-Online to do list and time management software-Project Schedule Tool.

All of the tools are helpful, just need to clarify which is the best suitable to your business.

If your business bills clients by the hour, I recommend a timer-based timekeeping tool like Hours Tracking. Tracking your team’s hours in real time allows you to more closely monitor budgets and project progress while dramatically streamlining your payroll and invoicing processes. Hours Tracking is designed for small to mid-sized teams and priced right at $1/month/user.

We just started using a couple of services which are recommended in the blog post. So far so good. One service definitely missing on the list is http://www.invoiceberry.com which is our go-to invoice software in the office. We use it since over one year and it’s running very smooth. They charge $15/month and we can send unlimited invoices and track all of our expenses and customer payments.

Another note worthy web app can be found at http://www.enamecards.com. It is an online business card with online rolodex too. So we can start using paperless business cards and exchanges can now be done across the globe.

This is an awesome list you have compiled here. If I can suggest one more addition for building websites, I would like to recommend TouchVu. TouchVu provides a very simple tool that allows business owners to instantly create their website using their Facebook business page. Although TouchVu is still in Beta, I think we’ll see amazing things from this company in the near future.

I want to inform you about Converge Enterprise, it is a cloud based CRM system. We designed and developed the software for SMBs. I would be happy if you use our CRM as free user and give your valuable feedback in your next article.

Missing an important one though: ONTRAPORT (www.ontraport.com) for business and marketing automation. 4,000+ entrepreneurs and small businesses use this to start, systemize and scale. Think CRM, email management, list segmentation, marketing automation, billing, easy website building etc.

I’d like to add Notism (http://notism.io) – A design collaboration platform that offers realtime communication via sketches, notes and selections. You can also build clickable prototypes, add tasks and version control your design process.

Keasurf software is A CRM specifically designed for surf camps, surf schools and surf shops to improve management, organization and efficiency. With Keasurf, you will save administration time and have more time for your clients.

Got a great alternative to Zendesk, called Helprace (http://helprace.com) – a customer service software consisting of a helpdesk, community and knowledge base. There’s also a free plan for startups & small teams.

Lucid Meetings (lucidmeetings.com) covers the complete scheduling, communication, meeting organization, and online collaboration needs for small businesses. It’s a great all-in-one tool that saves time and money for small businesses that are beginning to scale. [N.B., I am one of the founders and company leaders]

Thanks a lot for he article, very helpful! We at Allora.io tested Zopim, Olark, Chatra and BoldChat and found that all of them have almost the same functionality. Chatra and Zopim have better design, but Chatra works better on mobile. We started using Chatra for now and are still quite happy with it. Moreover, Chatra has the free forever plan and its paid plan costs 14$ per agent online per month.

Hi, Fluid UI is a tool that would help any startup. With built-in iOS, Material Design and Wireframe libraries containing over 2000 customizable widgets and icons, you can design and share a wireframe, mockup or prototype for any device or platform in minutes. FluidUI.com also features real-time collaboration for teams, video hangouts for user testing, on-device testing and interactive previews with chat/comments to share and iterate your designs with your team.

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